Piroshki & a Pickle Coffeehouse

Natalia Gurzhiy wants to build a Portland piroshki empire.
Three months ago, the Russian-born baker and her American husband
opened Piroshki & a Pickle Coffeehouse. It is exactly what it says
on the box: coffee, pickles and traditional Eastern European pastries
called piroshki. The couple has set the lofty goal of opening another
seven Piroshki & Pickles in Portland within a few years.

They’d probably be
well on their way to a fiefdom by now if they were east of the 205
freeway, but conquering the sleepy Southwest neighborhood of Lair Hill,
where their flagship cafe sits, is going to be difficult since few
locals know what the hell a piroshki is.

I’ve eaten my way
through a good portion of the menu, and I’m not even sure I know.
Seemingly, some sort of dough encases some sort of filling. Beyond that,
Gurzhiy’s piroshki—her mother’s and grandmother’s recipes, made for the
cafe by a local Russian bakery—come in all shapes, sizes and flavors.
There’s a breakfast piroshki of chopped egg, green onion and dill
($4.25), wrapped in a thin, flaky pastry. A shredded-vegetable piroshki
($4.25) is shaped like a Cornish pasty, but made with a thick, slightly
sweet, bready dough. And a big, glossy, knotted bun twisted around a
divine poppy-seed spread ($3.50)—yep, that’s piroshki, too. All are
delicious.

In a
quest to be the next Burgerville, Gurzhiy is experimenting with some
less traditional, Americanized fillings to win over the city’s hearts
and stomachs. A scrambled egg, spinach and bacon piroshki ($4.25) is the
biggest seller. Fortunately, Gurzhiy’s mom has given that one the
thumbs-up. “We tried a hamburger filling,” says Gurzhiy, “but my mother
said, ‘No, that’s not piroshki; if you want hamburger, go to
McDonald’s.’”